Friday, March 13, 2009

Insane right wing bits

The last couple of days have seen so much right-wing insanity it seems much more efficient to just include them all in one post.

--South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is one of a handful of Republic governors (including Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alaska, and Idaho) who is planning on turning down the federal dollars--most earmarked for education--for his state included in the Stimulus package. This will result in the loss of 7,500 teachers and the continued state of disrepair for South Carolina schools. (Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell says that those governors who turn down stimulus funds in a recession are not putting their citizens' welfare first, and are not acting in accordance with Christian values.)--Fox News crackpot Glenn Beck blames liberal "political correctness" and the "disenfranchisement" of conservatives during the Obama administration for the killing rampage in Alabama.--Ari Fleischer, the former press secretary for the Bush administration, publically said that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11.--Republican Congressman David Vitter and John Shadegg are proposing a new stimulus plan that would reinvigorate the economy by opening up new areas of protected land for oil drilling, and would remove many of the environmental regulations that oil companies dislike.--Republican party head Michael Steele once again stuck his foot into his mouth when he said that abortion should be a woman's choice during an interview with GQ Magazine; he later had to apologize and "clarify" his statements.--Republicans have been up in arms about President Obama's use of teleprompters, as if teleprompters are some sort of new agey, left wing conspiracy (and as if every Republican lawmaker does not rely on them).--Cook County (Illinois) Republican Chair Gary Skoien was evidently caught by his wife cavorting with two prostitutes in his children's playroom--Chuck Norris wants to run for the President of Texas, once Texas secedes from the United States.

But in better news:

--President Obama signed an executive order rescinding George Bush's ban on federally funded embryonic stem cell research; this order will mean that scientists can now use stem cells from embryos created for in vitro fertilization procedures, and which would have been otherwise destroyed, in order to find the cures for human diseases.--The White House is reviewing the idiotic "Don't ask, don't tell" policy that has resulted in the firing of over 12,500 gay service members (and 11 in January alone) since it was made official policy in 1993. Let's hope they make the right decision and scrap it entirely.--President Obama this week created a White House Council on Women and Girls in order to address issues that specifically impact women